Right field has been somewhat of an issue for a long time for the Chicago Cubs. Not since 2007 has the position seen any consistent production, but that was all set to change when the Cubs forked over $184 million for eight years to Jason Heyward. Instead, Heyward had the worst offensive season of his career and seven total players combined to bat .236/.313/.354 with 32 doubles, one triple, 14 home runs, 71 RBI and 11 stolen bases.
To say Jason Heyward’s first season in a Cubs uniform was a … [Read more...]

The plan for left field coming out of Spring Training was to have two of the Cubs youngest and most promising hitters in Kyle Schwarber and Jorge Soler share the position. All those plans were for naught when Schwarber suffered a season-ending knee injury in the third game of the season. Instead, the position became a place for manager Joe Maddon to match hitters with the right situations to help them achieve success. In all 13 players manned left field and they collectively batted … [Read more...]

The hot corner lived up to its namesake this season for the Chicago Cubs. It featured the National League MVP in Kris Bryant and one of baseball’s rising stars in Javier Baez. Six players logged time at third base and collectively they batted .275/.358/.481 with 36 doubles, two triples, 30 home runs, 88 RBI and 10 stolen bases.
As Kris Bryant gets better and better, it’s hard to argue with the front office’s decision to delay his service clock to earn seven years of control. Bryant became … [Read more...]

Anthony Rizzo simply had a tremendous season manning first base on a daily basis for Joe Maddon.
Considering how close their overall numbers were, it’s hard to believe that first baseman Anthony Rizzo finished just fourth in the MVP race. The first baseman cemented himself as one of baseball’s best young players earning a Silver Slugger with an impressive .292/.385/.544 batting line, 43 doubles, four triples, 32 home runs, 109 RBI and three stolen bases.
For the third straight year, Rizzo … [Read more...]

Aroldis Chapman, Travis Wood, Trevor Cahill, Chris Coghlan among seven Cubs to become free agents
139 players have become free agents since the end of The World Series. And the Cubs have seven players that are officially free agents, including David Ross who is retiring from baseball.
LHP Aroldis Chapman, LHP Travis Wood, RHP Trevor Cahill, OF/INF Chris Coghlan, INF Munenori Kawasaki, RHP Joe Smith and C David Ross became free agents Thursday, Nov. 3 and are eligible to sign with any team … [Read more...]

The World Series – Game 7 – Cubs 8, Indians 7 – 10 innings
WP – Aroldis Chapman (1-0, BS 1) LP – Bryan Shaw (0-1) Save – Mike Montgomery (1)
The Cubs Win! The Cubs Win The World Series! The Cubs are the Champions of Baseball after pulling out a win in an epic Game 7 of The World Series.
With the game tied at six after nine innings, Game 7 was placed in a rain delay before the 10th inning got underway. During the rain delay, a players meeting led by Jason Heyward was exactly what the … [Read more...]

The World Series – Game 4 – Cubs 2, Indians 7
WP – Corey Kluber (2-0) LP – John Lackey (0-1) Save – None
Anthony Rizzo gave the Cubs a one-run lead in the first inning before it all went south for Joe Maddon’s team in Game 4. The Cubs continued to flail away at just about every ball thrown by an Indians' pitcher and could not mount a comeback before the game got out of hand.
The Cubs trailed only by three runs as late as the seventh inning. But a three-run homer by Jason Kipnis off … [Read more...]

The World Series – Game 3 – Cubs 0, Indians 1
WP – Andrew Miller (1-0) LP – Carl Edwards Jr. (0-1) Save – Cody Allen (1)
Kyle Hendricks did not have it Friday night in Game 3 and neither did the Cubs offense. The Cubs managed only five hits, four singles and a triple, and seven total baserunners. And the Cubs were shutout for the second time in The Series.
The Cubs did not make the necessary adjustments against Indians’ pitching. Josh Tomlin kept the Cubs off balance for 4 2/3 innings … [Read more...]

The World Series – Game 1 – Cubs 0, Indians 6
WP – Corey Kluber (1-0) LP – Jon Lester (0-1) Save – None
The Cubs were shutout for the third time this postseason. The Cubs had plenty of chances in the first game of the World Series before the Indians turned a close game into a blowout in the eighth inning. The Cubs could not come up with a run scoring hit with men on base and dropped Game 1 of the World Series on Tuesday night in Cleveland.
The Cubs did not play as bad as the final score … [Read more...]

Joe Maddon makes changes to Cubs’ Lester Lineup for Series opener
Game 1 of The World Series is tonight (7:08pm CDT) at Progressive Field in Cleveland. Jon Lester takes on right-hander Corey Kluber and Joe Maddon made a couple of changes to his lineup.
Kyle Schwarber is starting and batting fifth behind Ben Zobrist. Chris Coghlan makes his first start of the postseason. Coghlan is hitting seventh and playing right field. Jason Heyward is not starting.
Joe Maddon is going with an … [Read more...]